Take time out to listen to Fela Kuti. He was many things during his time on this earth: a voice for Africa, a star on par with the likes of Bob Marley and Bob Dylan, a trend-setter, a political malcontent, and unrepentant sexist, Between himself and the great Tony Allen, they invented a genre, Afrobeat. A previously unknown gumbo that combined African American music such as Jazz, Funk and Soul with sounds only heard in the heart of the mother continent. That continent and its music are eternally etched into the DNA of the human race. When Fela Kuti combined those mythical beats and sounds, the radio waves carried worldwide. The effect was seismic in nature. The ground would shake as the people came together. The majority of Africans oppressed through corrupt government now united against their common enemy. Fela declared that his home was independent from the Nigerian state, calling it the Kalakuta Republic. At one time, the Kalakuta Republic was laid under siege by over 1,000 Nigerian troops, stemming from Fela’s outspoken political stance. Fela was severely beaten and lost his mother in that attack. His response was the single "Coffin For The Head Of State". To mark the occasion a year later, Fela married 27 women in a single ceremony. The 80s and 90s found him behind bars on regular basis due to his outspokenness in regards to Nigerian politics. An arrest for smuggling currency and one for murder jump off of the page among others. The world lost Fela in 1997 due to complications from the AIDS virus. His legacy lives on through his music and countless sons and daughters. He was the light and the dark. This still shines through the Funk that he left.